Breathe
by Flynne
Summary: A cave-in traps two of the brothers, and time and air are running out. 2k3 'verse.


_Posted on tumblr a while ago, from the prompt "There's something you need to know"._

 _2k3 'verse._

 **Breathe**

"Um, Raph? There's something you need to know."

Raph paused in his efforts to dig his way through the rock pile. He turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder in the direction of Mikey's voice, even though neither of them could see a thing in the utter blackness. "What?" he asked with deliberate patience.

"I have to pee."

Raph glared uselessly into the dark. "You'd better be joking," he growled. He squirmed a little anyway, trying to wiggle out from underneath his brother. It didn't work.

"Um, yeah. Joking. Let's go with that," Mikey answered. He sounded a little strained, though, making Raph wonder if he was telling the truth (which worried him) or not (which was a whole other kind of worry). They'd found a cave during their time exploring the woods near Casey's farm, and naturally they'd decided to investigate. They hadn't bargained on the precarious nature of the ancient tunnel. They hadn't gone very deep into the cave and they hadn't touched anything, but despite their careful movements, the cave had collapsed on them.

The first rock to fall had bounced off of Raph's head, giving him just enough warning to grab Mikey by the arm and drag him towards the mouth of the cave, but they'd run out of time. Mikey had thrown himself onto Raph from behind, bearing them both to the ground as the ceiling fell in. Their heads and shoulders were in a small pocket of air, but they were surrounded by debris on all sides, and even though they'd been trying to dig their way out, there weren't a lot of places to put the earth they managed to move.

Raph groped forward again, shoving aside more loose dirt before gripping one of the larger rocks and carefully trying to wiggle it free. The muscles in his shoulders tweaked uncomfortably from his awkward efforts at digging but he ignored it. It wasn't easy, pinned flat on his plastron with Mikey and who knew how much rubble piled on top of him. Mikey was a little farther forward and positioned slightly to Raph's right. He'd shielded Raph's head with his shoulders, covering his own head with his arms. Now, he was trying to use his arms to brace himself against the cave floor as best as he could and lift himself off Raph's back, but the weight of the rocks kept him pinned firmly in place.

"Raph, do you think maybe we should take a break for a while? Or...I don't know, try using internal breathing to save oxygen?"

"Can't yet," Raph grunted. "We can't know for sure they'll find us. Even if the locators in our shell cells are working, ain't no guarantee the signal will make it out of here." If their phones were even in one piece, he didn't say. They'd tried to reach the phones first thing, but the roof collapse had buried them nearly up to their necks, and trying to move their hands back to their belts was out of the question. Mikey just sighed a little, breath stirring the dust on the back of Raph's neck. The brothers had already slowed their heart rates and breathing as much as they could without drifting into a trance.

"You okay?" Mikey asked after a moment.

"Peachy," Raph growled.

"You know what I mean."

Raph sighed through his nose. "My legs are caught. I don't _think_ the left one's broken, but…" He shrugged as best as he could. "You?"

"Well...I still have to pee."

"Hold it," Raph said gruffly.

"You never know. It could decrease resistance if we have to scoot forward…"

"Mikey!" Raph grimaced in disgust.. "Just answer the question."

"Well, I'll probably have some impressive bruises when we get out of here, but other than that I'm okay. Lucky we got hard shells, right?"

"And hard heads."

Mikey huffed a laugh. "I shoulda seen that coming."

The brothers didn't speak for a while, spending their energy moving rocks and dirt. The dusty air curled in their lungs, threatening to make them cough, but they resisted the reflex and kept their breathing slow and deliberate.

Despite his outward calm, Raph could feel the first flutterings of panic in his gut. He and Mikey hadn't told anyone where they were going. Time out at the Jones farm was safe time, time to relax and not worry about deadlines (unless you counted the mandatory morning training sessions, he amended with an internal eyeroll) - time they could spend as they willed. It wasn't unusual for a brother or two to wander off for hours at a time. They probably wouldn't even be missed until after dark.

Raph lost track of time as they dug. The gritty earth rubbed abrasions on his hands that stung as he worked. There was a chill to the air, but sweat trickled down the side of his face, both from anxiety and from being trapped beneath the mini-furnace that was Mikey.

At first, Mikey was reaching over him, trying to move the rocks blocking their way out, but after a short while he started trying to dig at the debris against his shell.

Raph felt the earth by his left side start to move a bit and paused in his work to ask, "Hey, can you move at all?"

"I dunno. Maybe. Should I try?"

"I haven't been grubbing around down here because it's my idea of a good time. Go ahead, see if there's any leeway."

Mikey flattened his hands on the cave floor and cautiously pushed down, trying to lift himself off of Raph's back. At first, Raph thought it might work. There was a subtle lessening in pressure as the rubble around them began to move, but the rockslide let out a growl as it shifted and Mike flopped down against Raph with a yelp as debris fell on his head.

"I don't wanna do that again," he mumbled into the back of Raph's head.

"Good plan." Raph spat dirt out of his mouth. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Let's just keep digging."

They stopped talking again, the silence broken only by the sound of hands against rock. Despite their best efforts, Raph could feel his breathing speeding up in response to the dwindling oxygen. He could feel Mikey's breaths quickening as well.

After a moment, Mikey spoke, voice sounding tired and thin. "Raph?"

"Hn?"

"I think I'm ready for a break now."

"Yeah, me too," Raph said wearily. He relaxed his arms and let his cheek rest against the cool cavern floor. A little niggling headache had been pulsing behind his temples for a while, but now it was stronger. The darkness was a weight against his eyes that seemed even heavier than the pile of rock that had collapsed on top of them. "You know," he said with a sigh, "This would be a really stupid way to go."

Mikey snerked. "You're such a Klingon."

Raph blinked in consternation. "...the shell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on, don't pretend you don't know. Klingons want a warrior's death. Maybe instead of 'Raph', I'll call you 'Worf'. Better yet, 'Worfie'."

"You are so lucky I can't reach back there to bap you," Raph growled. "Just keep talkin'. It helps."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Tells me we're gonna make it out of this, because I know for damn sure the last words I hear are not gonna be your nerdy ramblings."

Mikey laughed, a little breathlessly. "Even when we _do_ get out of this, there are no guarantees, Raphie-boy."

The brothers only rested for a few minutes before they started back to work. Neither of them mentioned the increasing anxiety that maybe they wouldn't be able to dig their way out after all. Raph finally had to let his arms drop as the muscles in his shoulders cramped and started to twitch. No amount of effort could slow his pulse and breathing now. Mikey felt him go still and followed suit, slumping against him with a defeated sigh.

"You still with me, Mikey?" Raph asked.

"I think so," Mikey replied dazedly.

The way Mikey slurred his words cut through the fog and Raph opened his eyes (when had he closed them?). "Hey. _Hey._ Mikey." Alarm sparked along his nerves and chased away the encroaching lethargy when Mikey didn't answer. Raph pushed against the ground in an attempt to shake his brother awake. "Mikey I swear if you make me do the rest of the digging I'm gonna shave Klunk."

"N-not nice, Raphie," Mikey finally said, flicking him in the back of the head. Raph felt him lift his head and scrub a hand over his face.

"When did I ever claim to be nice?" Raph answered. He was too relieved to hear Mikey answering him to act irritated about the head flick. "Mikey, I think you should start that internal breathing now."

"No, we've gotta keep digging."

"Yeah, we will. Just...just do it for a little bit, okay? I'll wake you up."

"...Jus' for a little bit," Mikey agreed. Raph's mouth tightened unhappily. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved that Mikey was going to listen to him or worried that he wasn't calling him on the glaring flaw in his plan; that unless things changed, in a little while Raph wasn't going to be waking anybody at all.

Mikey inhaled deeply, then slowly let the air drain out of his chest. He became a heavy weight against Raph's shell, face tucked against the crook of Raph's neck and shoulder. Raph couldn't feel his breaths against his skin anymore, which made him feel cold all over even though he knew it was to be expected. Mikey's arms were stretched out before them, resting loosely on the ground alongside Raph's.

Raph gritted his teeth and reached forward again, digging his way through the fallen earth and rock. He wasn't trying to be careful any longer. He just wanted _out_. He strained forward, ignoring the pain streaking up from his trapped legs, because even in the complete darkness, he could feel his vision starting to blur. His breaths rasped between his teeth. Even though he could feel the air moving in his lungs, he knew it was slowly killing him. And even though Mikey was with him, the reassurance of his presence was gone, and the panic that Raph had so carefully walled off was beginning to seep into his bones.

He tugged a particularly stubborn chunk of rock free and froze as the wall of debris in front of him groaned and shifted. He sucked in a startled gasp, choking on the dust. For a moment, he thought the rubble would hold, but then a great clatter of falling stone shook the ground and he could sense the wall start to give. He shielded his head with his left arm, reaching out blindly to close his right hand around Mikey's just before the roof of their small pocket gave way.

Raph lost his precarious hold on consciousness and sank into oblivion clinging to his brother's hand. He was not aware that the fallen rubble that covered him was continuing to move and shift - and that it wasn't shifting on its own. He didn't hear Mikey's sharp intake of breath, and he didn't feel when his brother started to move, pushing against the weight and the dark until the earth broke open and let in a bright beam of light.

"Raph? Come on, I know you can hear me. Time to wake up."

He came awake with a gasp. His eyes opened on darkness and for a moment, panic clamped down around him and he couldn't breathe - but then he blinked and he realized his eyes were looking at stars, and a faint golden glow was coming from somewhere off to his right.

Don leaned into his line of sight and smiled down at him, looking worried but relieved. "Hey, Raph. Good to see you." Seeing that Raph was about to try to sit up, Don slid his arm beneath Raph's shoulders to help him. Raph let his brother slowly guide him upright, listing to the side to lean heavily against Don's shoulder. Don draped his arm around him, leaning forward to look into his face. "You okay?"

Raph didn't answer right away, hesitating a moment to take stock of himself. His head pounded fiercely. His arms and shoulders still twitched and he knew they'd probably be sore for a few days. His left leg was throbbing but not too bad if he didn't think about it. He swallowed dryly. "All things considered, yeah," he said hoarsely. A quick glance around showed that the yellow glow he'd seen was a camping lantern sitting near the mouth of the cave. His eyes snapped wide in sudden alarm as he realized that he and Don were alone in the clearing.

"Mikey!" The word caught in his parched throat and came out as a croak. He lifted frightened eyes to Don's face. "Don, where's Mikey?"

"He's okay," Don answered hurriedly, trying to reassure him. He held out a water bottle resting in the grass beside him.

Raph took it in a hand that only shook a little, frowning in confusion. That didn't make sense, but he was too tired to question it right then. After a couple swallows, he could speak again. "Where is he?"

"He said something about needing to 'find a tree, pronto'," Don replied with a smirk. "Leo walked him into the woods. Both of them looked pretty annoyed about it."

Raph tried to smile but he couldn't laugh things off just yet. "Mikey's really okay?"

Don's expression softened. "Yeah. A little bruised and he's got a pretty nasty headache, but he's okay." He curled his arm a little more tightly around Raph's shoulders. "I'm so glad you guys are all right that I'm not even going to lecture you about how stupid it was to go into the cave in the first place." One side of his mouth lifted, and a slightly evil glint came into his eyes. "Leo might, though."

Raph dropped his gaze, glowering at the ground. "We were quiet. We didn't go in far. And we didn't touch anything. We're not stupid."

Don sighed. "I know." He leaned over to rest his cheek on the top of Raph's head. "You're not stupid. I was just...worried."

The bushes at the edge of the clearing rustled as Mikey and Leo stepped into the light. Mikey was leaning against Leo but looked exasperated. "I didn't need a supervisor," he said.

"Believe me, I wasn't 'supervising'," Leo said dryly. "And you don't get to tell me whether or not you get an escort until you can take ten steps without falling over."

Mikey let out a huff. "I did not _fall over_. That dumb tree root was just - heyyyy, Raphie!" A bright smile lit his face as he crossed over to sit close beside Raphael. "You okay?"

"I should be askin' you," Raph answered.

"Oh, I'm fine. Especially now that Mamanardo walked me to the little turtles' room." He let out a relieved little sigh, ignoring the narrow-eyed look Leo gave him.

Raph rolled his eyes. "Nice." He looked back at Leo and Don. "How'd you guys find us?"

"Shell cell," Don replied. If he sounded a little smug, Raph figured he deserved to feel that way. "Actually...Well, it was getting close to dinner time and I wanted to see if you guys were getting close. I knew you guys were heading out together but I could only see the signal from Mikey's phone. And, well…"

"...You got worried," Raph finished.

"Yeah."

"Actually, Mikey was the reason we found you so quickly," Leo said. "Don and I had already reached the cave, but we were digging in the wrong spot. Mikey pushed his way out from the rubble in time for us to pull you out."

"He did?" Raph looked at his brother in surprise. "But...I thought…"

"You thought I was out of it because you'd talked me into quigong." One side of Mikey's mouth lifted in a wry smile. "Luckily, a whole pile of dirt and rocks collapsing on my head jarred me awake."

"I wasn't trying to…" Raph swallowed hard, feeling suddenly ashamed. "I wasn't tryin' to force you into anything. I just...you were starting to drift and I thought maybe if you were doin' your internal breathing thing, I could dig us out and you'd be okay."

"I know what you were doing," Mikey answered quietly. He was still smiling, but his eyes held a solemn, knowing look. Raph looked away, but he could still feel Mikey watching him. Mikey didn't move for a moment, but then he let out a little sigh and slowly slid his hand over to curl around Raph's. Raph gulped around the sudden tightness in his throat, shutting his eyes and holding Mikey's hand in return.

The brothers sat for a moment in silence, the only sounds the singing of the crickets and the breeze rustling the treetops. But then Mikey let go of Raph's hand and stretched, trying to work the kinks out of his sore shoulders. "Well, I don't know about Raphie, but I have dirt wedged in unmentionable places. I think it's time to go home." He poked Raph in the shoulder. "I call dibs on the shower."

Don snorted. "You're lucky if April lets you in the door without attacking you with the hose. You two are filthy."

Mikey's smile faded a bit. "You have a point."

Leo smiled and rubbed the top of Mikey's head. "I think just this once, she might make an exception." He retrieved the lantern, then returned to help Mikey to his feet. Don tugged Raph's arm across his shoulders and hooked a hand underneath the edge of his shell, gathered his legs beneath him, and rose smoothly, lifting Raph along as he stood.

Raph carefully tried to put weight on his left leg, but flinched and decided against it. Don gave him an understanding little smile and tugged him a little closer against his side. The brothers headed home beneath the starry sky without a backward glance, taking the light of the lantern and warmth of each other with them. Behind them, the cold, dark maw of the cave that had tried to swallow them faded into the night.


End file.
